WHW 239H, Minor History is hard to come by! (Any help welcome!)

[Donald Ross]

Hello

Over the past nearly 4 years i have been trying to find out any history in relation to my Morris Minor.

Reg WHW 239H 1970 2 Door Trafalgar Blue saloon De Lux.

To date i have had not luck at all in trying to find out the lost/forgotten history of my minor.

The only pointer i have is i think it was restored around 2008/2009. I have reason to believe (as i have a old mot certificate) that around that time the then named Stanton Drew Garage (Now South Bristol Service Centre) may have done work to the car but that is only a guess.

If anyone out there knows anything about reg WHW 239H please contact me as after owning the car for nearly 4 years i feel the more time that passes the harder it will be to regain any of its lost history.

If you would rather sent me a email please email: dfrmorrisminor@gmail.com

Regards
Donald

[jagnut66]

Good luck.
Back in the day, when I owned Abby, my first Minor, you were still able (as the registered owner) to request a list of past keepers / copies of old log books from the DVLA. So I was able to do what you seek to do relatively easily and build a picture of where the car had been and what her original registration was (before a garage bought it and stripped her of her original plate, no doubt for a fat profit..... ......... I digress).
I believe that you can still request this information today and they will still supply copies of old log books -- with all the relevant information redacted.....
So a bit pointless requesting it really.....
They call it progress............
All the same I still wish you luck with your quest.
Best wishes,
Mike.

[Sleeper]

The reply to a recent request for info.

" Good afternoon
A subject access request would consist of your own personal information only, as soon as it contains someone else’s personal information it is protected by Data Protection Registration Law.
We cannot release the information that you requested.
The reason(s) you have provided for wanting the name(s) and address of the previous keeper(s) of your vehicle does not meet the reasonable cause criteria that allows us to release this information.
Reasonable cause is not defined in legislation, but the government’s policy is that the request should relate to the vehicle or its use following incidents where there may be liability on the part of the driver or keeper, for example:
· where details of a previous keeper(s) are needed for court proceedings

· finding out who was responsible for an accident

· tracing the registered keeper of an abandoned vehicle

· tracing the registered keeper of a vehicle parked on private land
Further guidance on what is reasonable cause is published online at www.gov.uk/request-information-from-dvla
Allen Stark
Working from home
DVRE 1 |DVLA | Swansea | SA6 7JD "

John ;-)

[geoberni]

It seems the DVLA have tightened up much more since I got my car's history 4 years ago. They changed changed the criteria in 2019.

So Donald has now missed the boat as it were....
In 2017, as Mike said above, they sent me copies of the past Registration documents, but with the name address redacted, except for the Town/City. So I know when it changed hands and the areas it was in.

[les]

Picture the scene, year 2090, request made for information. Robot hones in on location of humanoid and dematerialises him, after quoting rule 48943/2 section 2b.

[JOWETTJAVELIN]

They will sell your personal data to private firms though, who can then send you parking fines etc.

[Donald Ross]

Sounds like the DVLA wont give you any info these days.

All i can hope for is that someone on the forum recognizes the number plate. I emailed the mmoc owners club some months ago but again could not gain any more information.

[simmitc]

This refusal to provide data is why Mark and I wrote the articles for Minor Matters. I know that the final part got a bit squashed in publication, but we were surprised by how little feedback or support that we got. If people feel that the historical information should be available, then please do make your voices heard.

[POMMReg]

Has the OP tried Bristol MVL records?

[MCYorks]

Picture the scene, year 2090, request made for information. Robot hones in on location of humanoid and dematerialises him, after quoting rule 48943/2 section 2b.

I can picture another scene. The year is 2040. Someone has died intestate, with no close relatives and leaving an unclaimed estate worth over a million pounds. Fortunately a distant relative is entitled to claim the estate Unfortunately for this relative, data protection rules have resulted the records and information allowing them to be identified and traced being destroyed. As a result the money goes to the Treasury

[Sleeper]

Maybe this is the way forward...

" · tracing the registered keeper of a vehicle parked on private land "

Someone has abandoned .. " Reg WHW 239H 1970 2 Door Trafalgar Blue saloon De Lux. " on my drive , the police have been informed but they state that it is a civil matter as on private land and pointed me in your direction , can you please furnish me with latest registered keeper so I can have it removed ?


John

[MCYorks]

Maybe this is the way forward...

" · tracing the registered keeper of a vehicle parked on private land "

Someone has abandoned .. " Reg WHW 239H 1970 2 Door Trafalgar Blue saloon De Lux. " on my drive , the police have been informed but they state that it is a civil matter as on private land and pointed me in your direction , can you please furnish me with latest registered keeper so I can have it removed ?


John

Ah, an excellent plan, sir, with only two minor drawbacks . One it's illegal and two it's dishonest.

The following case should serve as a warning. This chap provided the DVLA with false information in order to obtain the name and address of a vehicle keeper.
https://garagewire.co.uk/offbeat-news/a ... ber-plate/
He was prosecuted, found guilty of breaching the Data Protection Act, and fined more than £700. Not to mention the solicitors bill he probably had to pay!

There's big a difference between requesting this information when you're the current keeper of said vehicle, and requesting the information just because you, or someone you know, once owned it in the past. As the current keeper you would have a legitimate interest and historic entitlement to request the information. As a previous keeper, it's rather difficult to argue why you should a right to request the current keepers details.

[jagnut66]

As the current keeper you would have a legitimate interest and historic entitlement to request the information.

Which brings us neatly back to pretty much where we started and the cause of this frustration.
As the current owner of two 1950's Minors I'd love to know where they've been, even if was only things like the original dealership details and, after that, dates of ownership and, for example, Mr. Smith in Weybridge.
But we're not even trusted with that much.
'Simmitc' is correct in that we need to make our voices heard, perhaps through a campaign getting the likes of 'Practical Classics' involved.
Otherwise we may well end up with the situation described by 'MCYorks', whereby no-one is allowed to know anything, not even for legitimate reasons.....
Excepting, of course, cases, as mentioned by 'JowettJavelin', where 'official' companies are allowed to purchase your personal details.....
Best wishes,
Mike.